“The Glamour of Egypt Possesses Us”: How Ancient Egypt Became Common Knowledge to Britons, 1870-1922

Holly Polish

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in History

Professor Katharine Norris, Faculty Director

American University May 2009

Polish 1

Fun , a comedy magazine, reported on the 1896 “discovery” of an important papyrus, found in Egypt. 1 The papyrus depicts ancient Egyptians playing golf and wearing kilts and tams.

It is a parody of paintings with which many are familiar, those in which figures are drawn

alongside hieroglyphs relating a story. The included caption reports that the papyrus was

examined by “experts on Egyptian matters” who “have all agreed that it deals, if not with golf

itself, at least with a game of remarkable similarity.” 2 The writer continues and suggests that

Scotland may want to reconsider its claim to the pastime. In that brief caption, the writer raises

the point that the public relies on the work of “the Professor” and “experts on Egyptian matters”

to decipher the ancient culture, and, furthermore, to decipher the origins of their own heritage.

The satirist’s work depends on the British public’s familiarity with ancient Egyptian art and

expression to be able to understand the joke.

The parody in Fun was conceived in the context of an exciting period for study of Egypt,

the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While travelers, scholars, and archaeologists

developed precise methodology and were able to travel more easily, the study of Egypt, took on

the title Egyptology and, like many disciplines, became formalized. 3 Throughout the period,

exploration and archaeology were streamlined, generating discoveries that led to greater

knowledge and spurred further exploration. Little by little, ancient Egypt, a civilization on par

with ancient Greece and Rome was unearthed. Travelers and scholars disseminated their

uncovered knowledge in publications and institutions, giving the public access to a wealth of

new and exciting information. Furthermore, Egypt, for people in the middle and upper classes,

was a popular travel destination. As a result, fascination with ancient Egypt was lively both

1 See Appendix A for a print. “More Discoveries in Egypt,” Fun 64 (October 1896), p. 130. 2 “More Discoveries in Egypt,” Fun 64 (October 1896), p. 130. 3 John D. Wortham, The Genesis of British Egyptology: 1549-1906 (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971). Polish 2 inside and outside of academia. In addition to scholarship and travel inciting fascination with

Egypt, items from Egypt garnered attention in exhibitions and at the British Museum, and the press covered major discoveries made in excavations. 4 Thus, both experts, those in the field of

Egyptology, and amateurs, those without scholarly credentials, could participate in the study and discussion of ancient Egypt.

My paper will demonstrate that knowledge about Egypt became an important facet of common knowledge to Britons in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that

Britons consumed it as a product of the empire. I will provide evidence indicating that Britons placed importance on learning about ancient Egypt, interacting with their own imperial possessions, and discovering origins. Britons consumed what their colonies produced and Egypt was a producer of cotton and tobacco; other colonies, however, also produced those material goods. 5 I argue that Egyptological discoveries and knowledge, which developed as a result of

occupation of Egypt, were the consumable products from Egypt with the greatest meaning to

Britons. Joanna de Groot, in her 2006 chapter in At Home with the Empire , asserts that, in the

nineteenth century, “‘the Empire’ itself became a consumable product.” 6 I seek to show that

consumption of Egypt was spurred by publications, and discussion of those publications, which

emitted the message that knowing about Egypt was essential for Britons who took interest in the

world. To make my argument, I will use travelogues, travel guidebooks, Egyptology

scholarship, news, and reviews to determine to what Britons were exposed and how they

consumed it. Reviews are a key source because they contain evidence indicating the market for

4 See Stephanie Moser, Wondrous Curiosities: Ancient Egypt at the British Museum (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006). 5 Joanna de Groot, "Metropolitan desires and colonial connections," in At Home with the Empire , ed. Catherine Hall and Sonya O. Rose (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 172-3. 6 Ibid., 176. Polish 3 a work, be it a book or a lecture. Other sources show the types of pieces that Britons could read and what publishers chose to market to the public.

The period chosen for this study spans from 1870 to 1922, representing a time during which the public showed heightened interest in Egypt and during which several prominent

Egyptologists made their mark. The study, which focuses on the mass public, begins while

Egyptology was in its nascent stage and Britain was incorporating Egypt into its dominion.

Britain was financially involved in the governance of Egypt in the 1870s and established formal authority over Egypt in 1882. 7 The colonial relationship is important in how it affected those interested in ancient Egypt because the relationship spawned a relaxation of restrictions on excavating. As the prominent archaeologist, W. M. Flinders Petrie noted in his article

“Archaeology in Egypt,”

While many seats of ancient civilization are almost closed to research by the paralyzing power of Turkey, the case is different under the government of the Khedive. Although exploration in Egypt was practically forbidden to outsiders under the influence of Mariette 8…the increase of English control in the country have loosened the former restrictions almost as far as reason will permit. 9

British control meant that British interests, be they intellectual or scholarly, took precedence. Of

course there is no clean-cut stopping point for interest in Egypt, but this study closes at 1922.

For example, James Stevens Curl’s study Egyptomania traces “Egyptianisms,” a term for

European ideas and objects inspired by Egypt, from the Roman Empire to the 1990s. 10 1922 is

the endpoint because it marks the year when Egypt gained independence from the British, the

same year as the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb.

7 The British bought the Khedive’s 44% share in the Suez Canal to solve Egypt’s public debt crisis. Peter Mansfield, The British in Egypt (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1971), 8-9. 8 Auguste Mariette was a French archaeologist who was head of the Egyptian Antiquities Service for the Egyptian government and was pivotal in establishing the Egyptian Museum. Brian Fagan, The Rape of the Nile: Tomb Robbers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in Egypt (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2004), 181-6. 9 W. M. Flinders Petrie, “Archaeology in Egypt,” Archaeological Review 1, no. 6 (August 1888): 405. 10 James Stevens Curl, Eygptomania The Egyptian Revival: A Recurring Theme in the History of Taste (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994). Polish 4

The public, for the purposes of this paper, will comprise the reading public of the middle and upper classes. The amateurs, in this paper, are part of that reading public. The general reading public was a growing body during the nineteenth century as literacy expanded.

According to scholar Richard Altick, in 1871, 93.6% of males and 73.2% of females were literate; by 1900, those figures rose to 97.2% and 96.8%, respectively. 11 Britons, even those in the slums or backcountry, were able to read, but that does not mean that they had access to materials. Those in the working class could not afford to keep up with new books, and periodicals and libraries were of little help. 12 According to Altick, “the great body of middle- class buyers”, though, was able to read books, daily newspapers, and periodicals. 13 More specifically, de Groot points out, “readership for narratives of imperial travel, conquest, adventure, and settlement…spread to wider middle-class audiences during the nineteenth century.” 14 Thus, middle and upper class readers were able to keep abreast of all of the latest developments relating to Egypt and Egyptology from the comfort of the metropole, as armchair scholars.

The existing historiography on this topic focuses on Europeans’ direct interactions with

Egypt and analyses of the resulting works about Egypt. Timothy Mitchell’s 1988 study,

Colonising Egypt , analyzes the process by which Egypt came increasingly under European control in the course of the nineteenth century. Mitchell analyzes how Europeans, primarily

French and British, reacted to Egypt and how Egyptians reacted to their experiences with

Europe. For Europeans, Mitchell explains, “The Orient was something one only ever rediscovered. To be grasped representationally, as the picture of something, it was inevitably to

11 Richard D. Altick, The English Common Reader: A Social History of the Mass Reading Public 1800- 1900 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963), 171. 12 Ibid., 259. 13 Ibid., 355. 14 Joanna de Groot, "Metropolitan desires and colonial connections," 176. Polish 5 be grasped as the reoccurrence of a picture one had seen before.” 15 He continues, “to describe

the Orient, which refused to provide a point of view and to present itself, became more and more

a process of redescribing these representations.” 16 With that, Mitchell makes the point that

Europeans only learned about Egypt from other Europeans. Europeans were familiar with Egypt

by the mid-nineteenth century through travelogues, exhibitions, and books. At a time when

traveling was difficult and time-consuming, many European relied on imagining Egypt from the

comfort of the armchair or among the crowds at the exhibition.

Mitchell argues that Victorian Europeans saw the world through representations and that

confusion resulted when confronted with the real thing. Europeans were most likely to

experience the Other in an exhibition hall, where they could consume the Other in the comfort of

the metropole. Such an argument identifies Europeans as consumers first and foremost,

incapable of fully understanding the Other. In his analysis of years after 1880, he narrows in on

how Britons who went to Egypt wrote about it and sought to improve it through modernization.

He thoroughly investigates the process of colonization and suggests that in colonization, the

British initially sought to have a deep knowledge of the “Egyptian character,” or culture. 17

Britons, however, were the dominant force and they were able to preserve what they wanted, the

picturesque for their delight, and complete a “Europeanisation” process. 18

Derek Gregory also has addressed how Europeans interacted with Egypt in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in two articles, “Scripting Egypt: Orientalism and the Cultures of

Travel,” in 1999, and “Emperors of the Gaze: Photographic Practices and Productions of Space in Egypt, 1839-1914,” in 2003. Gregory investigates how travelers captured their experiences

15 Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 30. 16 Ibid., 30. 17 Ibid., 104. 18 Ibid., 163. Polish 6 with pen and paper in “Scripting Egypt.” He argues that travel writers wrote to better understand what they encountered and make it accessible the public. Writers “constructed Egypt as a legible space whose cultural inscriptions, however faint or obscure, could be deciphered by the educated reader.” 19 With accessibility, Europeans were able to regulate and “script” the exotic. By the late nineteenth century, “travel writers now referred to ‘the round of regulation sights’, and at each site there was a standard route…The staging was completed by the installation of electric lighting.” 20 Gregory cites Mitchell in his study and also finds that Europeans were confused by

Egypt and that explains why they regulated the sites of interest. In “Emperors of the Gaze,”

Gregory finds that Europeans also scripted Egypt through photography and he gives agency to

the everyday tourist, especially those who traveled after the introduction of the Kodak hand-held

camera starting in 1888. 21 Those tourists, in Gregory’s analysis, viewed their trips as “the

exhibition of Egypt” and “as a succession of fleeting and exotic images to be captured on film.” 22

Such a view is in concert with Mitchell’s argument that tourists thought of themselves in Egypt

in an exhibition. Both scholars attest that Europeans preferred to remain at a distance from the

reality of Egypt.

Though Mitchell and Gregory provided enlightening studies of European interaction with

Egypt, neither investigated Europeans who did not directly interact with Egypt, those who were

experiencing the empire from afar. Many who interacted directly with Egypt kept a gazing

distance, according to Mitchell and Gregory, but many also engaged with Egypt from the

metropole. Two factors account for consumption of Egypt from the metropole. First, many

19 Derek Gregory, “Scripting Egypt: Orientalism and the cultures of travel,” in Writes of Passage: Reading Travel Writing edited by James Duncan and Derek Gregory (London: Routledge, 1999), 115. 20 Ibid., 134. 21 Derek Gregory, " Emperors of the Gaze: Photographic Practices and Productions of Space in Egypt, 1839-1914," in Picturing Place: Photography and Geographical Imagination , ed. James R. Ryan and Joan M. Schwartz (New York: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2006), 210. 22 Ibid., 217. Polish 7 amateurs studied Egypt and interacted with Egypt indirectly by reading, attending lectures, seeing exhibitions, and keeping up with scholarship. Second, travelers were able to directly interact with Egypt, but they often went on to encourage others to engage in indirect interaction with Egypt. Amateurs were engaging with empire, though not out of requirement. Joanna de

Groot urges historians to “consider consumption as not only meeting particular needs , but as expressing social and cultural meanings.” 23 Her sentiment, though based on her study of material consumption, particularly tea from India, has meaning in the context of this study.

Learning about ancient Egypt was not fulfilling any need, but demonstrates a reverence for both the ancient and the empire.

Britons’ newly invigorated interest in Egypt resulted, in part, from Britain’s political involvement in Egypt. As with other imperial acquisitions, a political link to Egypt affected the metropole. For decades after the 1882 bombardment of Alexandria, the British occupied Egypt.

The Earl of Cromer, the consul-general of Egypt from 1883 to 1907, wrote in his retrospective,

“Egypt may now almost be said to form part of Europe. It is on the high road to the Far East. It can never cease to be an object of interest to all the powers of Europe, and especially to

England.” 24 In an 1884 penny paper commentary, an anonymous writer suggested, “England

will for some years to come be still greatly and preponderatingly responsible for the good

government of Egypt. It behooves every Englishman, accordingly, to become familiar with that

famed historical land.” 25 The newspaper writer identifies Egypt’s historical importance, calling

on Britons to take part in the empire through learning, while Cromer indicates that Egypt has a

special place in the European worldview. The political situation opened the door for intensive

study, but Amelia B. Edwards an Egyptologist, noted, “Politicians are not generally

23 Joanna de Groot, "Metropolitan desires and colonial connections," 169. 24 Evelyn Baring Cromer, Modern Egypt , vol. 1 (New York: Macmillan, 1908), xvii. 25 “Picturesque Egypt,” Penny Illustrated Paper , June 28, 1884, pg. 6. Polish 8 archaeologists; and archaeologists are still more rarely politicians.” 26 She meant that the same

audience interested in the politics of colonial the relationship would be little interested in the

latest discoveries. In the interest of this study, the political relationship simply laid the

foundation for learning about the ancient and the exotic. In the case of Egypt, Britons could

invest in empire by consuming information. Connection to empire were made with greater ease

because of three developments: growth in dissemination of information, development in travel,

and the professionalization of Egyptology.

During the nineteenth century, the periodical press rose in prominence to contribute to the expansion of information availability. Newspapers were no longer the sole medium for rapid dissemination of information because, as Paul Auchterlonie argues, “periodicals and newspapers vied with each other for the position as the dominant medium in which political controversies were aired and by which new information and fresh ideas were brought to the attention of the public.” 27 Periodicals were not a new invention of the nineteenth century, but an extraordinary expansion of the periodical industry did take place between 1800 and 1900. 28 Periodicals could include longer articles that newspapers would not be able to print, and they can cater to niche audiences more effectively than newspapers. Professional groups and societies published periodicals, such as Philosophical Transactions and The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology or periodicals could have a more general appeal, such as The Academy or Macmillan’s Magazine .

According to Lyn Pykett, periodicals formed a “central component of [Victorian] culture—an

‘active and integral part’, and they can only be read and understood as part of that culture and

26 Amelia B. Edwards, review of Egypt After the War , by Villiers Stuart of Dromana, The Academy 609 (January 1884): 3. 27 Paul Auchterlonie, "From the Eastern Question to the Death of General Gordon: Representations of the Middle East in the Victorian Periodical Press, 1876-1885," British Journal of Middle East Studies 28, no. 1 (May, 2001), p. 8. http://www.jstor.org 28 Richard D. Altick, The English Common Reader , 318. Polish 9 society;” they are not simply “a mirror of Victorian culture.” 29 Periodicals, adding to the print culture of newspapers and books, expanded the forum for public learning and discussion.

Knowing how many people counted as periodical readers is nearly impossible because many of the most popular periodicals were “subscribed to by all the major clubs, gentlemen’s libraries, public reading rooms, and inns of court.” 30 Moreover, “periodicals, particularly the general

quarterlies and monthlies, reached all branches of the middle and upper classes.” 31 Even without exact figures, the various periodicals included in this study had readership that indicates that information spread through their production.

In addition to a general expansion of literature production, there was an increase in information specifically about Egypt. Between 1880 and 1889, the period of British power consolidation in Egypt, 227 books were published containing “Egypt” in the title. The following decade, 176 books were published in the same category, making the final two decades of the nineteenth century the highest for production in this category. 32 During 1876-1885, a significant

121 articles concerning Egypt were published in the top ten British periodicals. 33 These figures indicate that the public was consuming and demanding information about Egypt, both present day and ancient. The intrigue of discoveries and the government’s investments meant that everyone had a stake in Egypt, whether as history buffs or travelers or foreign officers or

29 Lyn Pykett, "Reading the Periodical Press: Text and Context," in Investigating Victorian Journalism , ed. Laurel Brake, Aled Jones, and Lionel Madden (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990), 7. 30 Paul Auchterlonie, "From the Eastern Question to the Death of General Gordon,” p. 8. 31 Ibid., 8. 32 See Appendix B for a chart of this data. William M. Barto compiled these figures and the included chart from a study of the British Library catalogue through 1975 that indicated that a plurality of books about Egypt was published in the nineteenth century. The study found that 1,081 books were produced during 1800-1899, with the highest number of output in the final three decades. William M. Barto,"Re’s Kingdom in the Empire Where the Sun Never Set: The Nineteenth-Century British Egyptologists and Their Thoughts Concerning Race, Religion, and the Role of Women in Ancient Egypt" (PhD diss., Drew University, 1997), 39-41. 33 The periodicals studied were Blackwood’s Magazine , Contemporary Review , Fortnightly Review , Nineteenth Century , Fraser’s Magazine , Macmillan’s Magazine , Edinburgh Review , National Review , Quarterly Review , and Cornhill Magazine . Paul Auchterlonie, "From the Eastern Question to the Death of General Gordon,” 8-10. Polish 10 financiers or politicians. The figures above are illustrative that knowledge about Egypt was spreading rapidly because “publication, involving the reproduction of recorded works in multiple copies and the distribution of these copies to consumers becomes in literate societies a major mode of the dissemination of knowledge.” 34 As knowledge was spread, and democratized, so too was travel.

The rise of tourism to Egypt is the second development the late nineteenth century that marks the importance of the period for learning about Egypt. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, “as travel became cheaper and more convenient, the practice of leisure tourism spread throughout the industrializing societies of Europe and North America.” 35 Travel was cheaper

because business took over the planning process and homogenized the experience. The tourism

business “owes much to the efforts of the British firm Thomas Cook & Son, a pioneer in

organizing and promoting the practice of popular leisure travel.” 36 In the 1870s and 1880s,

Cook’s son “established a vertically integrated tourism business based on the firm’s control over

Nile transportation, several hotels, and hundreds of agents, guides, porters, and servants across

Egypt.” 37 Cook took advantage of British occupation and became the sole steamship line

allowed to run on the Nile. 38

Cook’s expansive enterprise commercialized travel in Egypt, making travel accessible to those who would not be able to afford a private tour. Private Nile tours, lasting up to fifty days, cost £150, while Cook’s steamer trip ran only twenty days for the cost of £50. 39 With low costs,

34 Gordon B. Neavill, "Role of the Publisher in the Dissemination of Knowledge," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 421 (September, 1975), p. 23. http://www.jstor.org. 35 Waleed Hazbun, "The East as an Exhibit: Thomas Cook & Son and the Origins of the International Tourism Industry in Egypt," in The Business of Tourism: Place, Faith, and History , ed. Philip Scranton and Janet F. Davidson (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007), 5. 36 Ibid., 5. 37 Ibid., 5. 38 “Egypt,” London Times , February 14, 1882, pg. 4. 39 Waleed Hazbun, "The East as an Exhibit,” 20. Polish 11 the amount of annual travelers increased from hundreds in 1872, to 6000 in 1889, to a rumored

50,0000 in 1899. 40 Travel was ubiquitous because “Thomas [Cook] was making it possible for

the mill-hand, the hairdresser’s assistant, the labourer and the jobbing builder to save up and

have holidays overseas.” 41 Not everyone thought that the wide availability of travel was an

improvement. In Thomas Cook’s obituary, The London Times scoffed, “The world is not to be

altogether reformed by cheap tours, nor is the inherent vulgarity of the British Philistine going to

be eradicated by sending him with a through ticket and a bundle of hotel coupons to Egypt.” 42

Travel could not teach everyone to appreciate high culture, but the popularity of tours to Egypt

indicates that the public wanted to see Egypt. By the late nineteenth century, Britons were

connecting with Egypt physically and mentally.

The third development that spurred connectivity with Egypt is the development of

Egyptology as a profession. The word “Egyptology” was coined in 1859 and the discipline

continued to grow from there. Egyptologists were constantly adding new information to the

discipline because as Egyptologists translated ancient texts and excavated, they could publish

definitive versions of histories, chronologies, and legends. 43 The development of the discipline helped to add to the flux of information about Egypt to which the public had access. Egyptology was recognized by the public and “by 1880, Egyptology had developed into a highly specialized, respectable scholarly discipline.” 44 The professionalization of Egyptology created a class of experts who gained the trust of the public. The expert class was responsible for adding to the canon of knowledge that would be passed down to the amateur public. Egyptologists’ work was newsworthy, especially their discoveries and excavations, and unlocked the intriguing history of

40 Ibid., 20. 41 Jill Hamilton, Thomas Cook: The Holiday-Maker (Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 2005), 157. 42 "The death of the founder of ‘Cook’s Tours’," London Times , July 20, 1892, pg. 13. 43 John David Wortham, The Genesis of British Egyptology 1549-1906 , 98-99. 44 Ibid., 106. Polish 12

Egypt. In creating their work, they created tangible means for the amateur to consume Egypt, and in that, empire.

The advance of Egyptology in the nineteenth century was aided by the deciphering of

hieroglyphs. Before hieroglyphs were translatable, any document-based scholarship on ancient

Egypt was conjecture. Jean Francois Champollion became the first hieroglyph decipherer in

1819, but his achievement did not lead to exciting developments immediately. 45 The seeming indecipherability of the hieroglyphs was part of the notion that Egypt was mysterious and unknowable. Hieroglyphic knowledge could unlock the mysteries that had plagued scholars of

Egypt for centuries. As late as the 1860s, some doubted that the deciphering would lead to any advancement, but in that very decade, hieroglyphic translation was finally producing fruitful discovery. 46 Knowledge of hieroglyphic study is one skill that set experts apart from the amateur class. Professionals provided for the public by uncovering specialized knowledge.

Egyptology was not peerless; the nineteenth century was a period of professionalization of many scholarly disciplines. In the process, expertise was separated from general knowledge, and disciplines each developed their own methodology and norms. Philippa Levine’s The

Amateur and the Professional documents the professionalization process. She focuses on

Victorian British historians, antiquarians, and archaeologists, whose subjects gained “a newly

respectable institutional status towards the close of the [nineteenth] century” because of their

“closely defined and methodologically more rigorous approach.” 47 As a result of this trend, a disparity developed between the professional and the amateur. According to Levine, “attempts to limit entry to these avenues of employment through more stringent training and qualification

45 John D. Wortham, The Genesis of British Egyptology , 54-5. 46 Ibid. , 56. 47 Philippa Levine, The Amateur and the Professional: Antiquarians, Historians, and Archaeologists in Victorian England, 1838-1886 . (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 1. Polish 13 provided both a sense of community and of status for those within.” 48 Amateurs trusted communities of professionals because of their experience and expertise. Egyptology follows the trends and falls in between Levine’s categories of antiquity study, history, and archaeology.

The amateur existed because of an increase in leisure time and a devotion to culture.

Leisure time increased and spread to the middle class in the nineteenth century. The middle class, according to Peter Bailey, was “the most substantial modern beneficiaries of the hitherto aristocratic privilege of leisure.” 49 Prosperity was not limited to the upper echelon of British society anymore; it was not even limited to the upper tiers of the middle class. Instead, “the pursuit of leisure won an increasing number of devotees, for it was not only master manufacturers who enjoyed the new bounty, but the lesser lights in a middle class which was growing more numerous as well as more prosperous.” 50 Just as leisure had spread to the middle class, so too could characteristics of gentility. Studying at public schools and perhaps university were “indispensable requirements for middle-class gentility.” 51 Certainly, not everyone spent

their leisure time cultivating their minds, but these developments are contributors to the

increased interest in Egypt, especially among amateurs. Ancient Egypt was not only exciting to

read about, but learning about an ancient civilization also was characteristic of gentility.

Amateurs could only exist, though, alongside experts.

Two professionals, W. M. Flinders Petrie and Amelia B. Edwards, played instrumental roles in expanding Egyptology to institutions, and to the public. Petrie was the most prominent archaeologist of Egypt in this period and his career spans beyond the 1922 study endpoint. He excavated on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund (EEF), the scholarly society for Egyptology,

48 Ibid., 6. 49 Peter Bailey, "’A Mingled Mass of Perfectly Legitimate Pleasures’ : The Victorian Middle Class and the Problem of Leisure," Victorian Studies , 21, no. 1 (Autumn, 1977), p. 8. http://www.jstor.org. 50 Ibid., 9. 51 Ibid., 10. Polish 14 and was the first professor of Egyptology in Britain, holding the professorship at University

College London. He was instrumental in setting proper procedure for excavation and preservation of antiquities. 52 Petrie was also widely known and publicized, much like the

Egyptologist, Amelia B. Edwards. Edwards also figures prominently in this study, as she was a liaison between the amateur and the professional world. She was a novelist who vacationed in

Egypt in 1873, a trip that “changed the course of her life.” 53 Upon her return to Britain, she took

up intensive study, reading about ancient Egypt, consulting Egyptologists, and learning how to

read hieroglyphs. 54 She was self-taught, thus did not have traditional credentials, but her expertise was not lacking. She crusaded for the preservation of ancient Egyptian sites and advocated for greater public awareness and an expansion of scientific research. 55 During her career, she co-founded the EEF and was a constant writer on Egyptology. Upon her 1892 death, she still worked to promote Egyptology as she endowed the professorship at UC London and donated her collection of books and antiquities. 56 These two Egyptologists were essential in

shaping Egyptology and the institutions that it bore.

The EEF was a key actor in fostering a relationship between the public and the

professional field of Egyptology. The EEF was founded in April 1882 as a result of the work of

its Joint Honorary Secretaries, Reginald Stuart Poole, of the British Museum, and Amelia B.

Edwards. They founded the society with objectives of promoting a preservation effort and

52 Margaret S. Drower, “Petrie, Sir (William Matthew) Flinders (1853–1942),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com. 53 Deborah Manley, “Edwards, Amelia Ann Blanford (1831–1892),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com. 54 Ibid. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid. Polish 15 finding sites linked to the Bible. 57 The EEF was essential in keeping the public current with the

latest discoveries and advances in the field. Their annual general meetings were summarized in

the newspaper as well as The Academy , a journal with a literary focus. Some meeting reports

required two or three full pages in The Academy while including information on finances,

excavations, membership, and donations. 58 The London Times allotted a similar amount of space for coverage of the meetings of the EEF. 59 Publishers could not devote such an amount of space

to a column that readers would not read. The thorough reporting on the EEF’s inner workings

suggests a great public curiosity in their work.

The EEF also handed information down to the public by publishing books and articles.

They published memoirs, and upon the publication of the Fund’s first, an article appearing in

Chamber’s Journal declared, “the Egypt Exploration Fund ought to be supported by all

Englishmen who take an interest in the progress of Egyptology.” 60 Such a statement carries the idea that Egyptology enriches the British and that Britons have a duty to study Egypt. Britons could realize their duty because the EEF helped the amateur. In the preface to their second Atlas of Ancient Egypt , they included special notes for those amateurs who would be reading, explaining, “Since this Atlas will doubtless fall into the hands of many who have had neither time nor opportunity for the study of Egyptology, interested as they may be in its results, a few notes on certain geographical aspects of Ancient Egyptian history are here given.” 61 The EEF did not generalize the presented material; they merely made it accessible to any level of

57 Margaret S. Drower, “The Early Years,” in Excavating in Egypt: The Egypt Exploration Society 1882- 1982 edited by T.G.H. James (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), 10. 58 “The Annual General Meeting of the Egypt Exploration Fund,” The Academy 886 (April 1889): 291-4. “The Annual General Meeting of the Egypt Exploration Fund,” The Academy 982 (February 1891): 213-5. “The Egypt Exploration Fund,” The Academy 1038 (March 1892): 307-9. 59 “The Egypt Exploration Fund,” London Times , October 30, 1884, pg. 10. “The Egypt Exploration Fund,” London Times , December 23, 1887, pg. 10. “The Egypt Exploration Fund,” London Times , April 15, 1889, pg. 4. 60 “The Egypt Exploration Fund,” Chamber’s Journal 2, no. 70 (May 1885): 279. 61 An Atlas of Ancient Egypt , 2 nd ed. (London: Egypt Exploration Fund,1894), preface. Polish 16 expertise. Thus, the EEF was not elitist, but interested in gaining the public’s attention and support.

As much as the EEF supported the public in staying current with scholarship, the EEF was dependent on the support of the public. One reviewer of the EEF’s journal used the critique to advise the public to financially support the EEF. He makes his case by presenting how the

EEF helped the public: “The Egypt Exploration Fund, typically British though its position is, has done a great deal to maintain the reputation of British scholarship.” 62 The reviewer goes on to explain how the Fund is “typically British,” “this body, devoting itself to the history and archaeology of a country for whose destinies we have made ourselves responsible, enjoys no such Government subvention as an institution of the kind would certainly receive in France or

German, and is dependent on the subscriptions or donations of its British and American supporters.” 63 The president of the EEF in 1922, J. G. Maxwell, also made appeals for funding

by writing a letter to the editor of the The London Times . Maxwell wrote, “I ventured to deplore

the lack of encouragement given to archaeological work in Egypt by his Majesty’s

Government.” 64 All through the period of this study, the EEF did not receive government

funding. In that way, the EEF was completely reliant on a public that was fascinated with Egypt,

and one that cared about the progress of knowledge.

Though the Egypt Exploration Fund needed the monetary support of the public, it did not

hesitate in sharing knowledge publicly. The EEF kept the public informed of their workings.

Reginald Stuart Poole wrote in to the London Times to announce that W. M. Flinders Petrie,

“well known for his admirable researches at the Pyramids,” would carry out the Fund’s

62 Review of The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology , The Athenaeum 4667 (October 10, 1919): 1000. 63 Review of The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology , The Athenaeum 4667 (October 10, 1919): 1000. 64 John Maxwell, Letter to the Editor, London Times , December 20, 1922, pg. 12. Polish 17 excavations and to call for some subscriptions. 65 Undoubtedly, interaction with the public was important in fundraising, but the members of the EEF were earnest in stirring public excitement and learning. In 1885, the Fund was able to announce the findings of Petrie’s excavation that were “of the highest importance and interest” and announced that the discoveries would be exhibited at the Archaeological Institute. 66 Archaeologists, such as Flinders Petrie, Francis

Griffith, and David Hogarth all wrote in to The Academy to discuss the work that they conducted for the Egypt Exploration Fund. 67 The Fund’s desire to attract interest was beyond that of needing funding. They put on an exhibition in 1885 to showcase the relics that they found that included items such as knives, fishhooks, belts, vases, and lamps. 68 By exhibiting, the EEF was allowing the public to interact, in a tangible way, with the ancient. The exhibit had no admission price, so it was not a fundraising effort. Rather, the EEF could excite the curiosity of the public who could in turn learn how ancient Egyptians lived. They could see for themselves that ancient

Egyptians’ household items were not so different from their own.

The University College London joined the Egypt Exploration Fund in representing the professional, institutional side of Egyptology. Upon the 1892 death of Amelia B. Edwards, W.

M. Flinders Petrie became the first professor of Egyptology at UC London. Flinders, in a lecture of acceptance, criticized the British government for having not already endowed such a position and allowing Britain to fall behind Germany, France, and Italy in that respect. 69 Petrie hoped,

“to provide for the wants both of those who needed a complete library for exhaustive study and

65 Reginald Stuart Poole, Letter to the Editor, London Times , February 26, 1884, pg. 4. 66 “The Cradle of Hellenic Art at Naukratis,” London Times , August 5, 1885, pg. 13. 67 W. M. Flinders Petrie, “Itinerary Measures in Egypt,” The Academy 787 (June 1887): 402. F.L. Griffith, “The Season’s Work of the Egypt Exploration Fund,” The Academy 1002 (July 1891): 60. David Hogarth, “The Egypt Exploration Fund: The Temple of Hatasu at Deir El Bahari,” The Academy 1144 (April 1894): 293-4. 68 “The Egypt Exploration Fund,” London Times , September 9, 1885, pg. 12. 69 “Professor Flinders Petrie On Egyptology,” London Times , January 16, 1893, pg. 8. Polish 18 for those who could only spare occasional hours at home.” 70 The advancement of the profession in Briton was positive for both potential professionals and armchair scholars. The professorship invigorated interest in the field and created an additional center for trusted knowledge. It also provided structure for those who wanted to become experts, thereby giving requirements to be considered an expert. Students who wanted to follow the vigorous pursuit of Egyptology could do so. Those who were amateurs could also gain from the new department. People were now able to attend regular lectures and each year, the department exhibited their excavated work. The events “were free to the public and attended by as many as two thousand visitors.” 71 For many it

was “the place they must visit in summer to see Petrie’s newly discovered antiquities.” 72 With every advancement, discovery, or tour, the public was becoming intellectually invested in Egypt.

Speaking engagements were not limited to UC London because many Egyptologists gave lectures, giving the public the opportunity to interact with professionals directly. Reviews and press coverage of lectures reveal how the public received the Egyptologists. The London Times reported in1923, “As all accommodation for Professor Flinders Petrie’s lecture at University

College on ‘Royal Burials in Egypt’ on February 3 is exhausted, and in order that the large number of persons wishing to hear the lecture may be able to do so, Professor Petrie has consented to deliver the lecture a third time.” 73 After visiting and lecturing at Cambridge, a

reviewer in the Cambridge Review pronounced, “He [Flinders Petrie] should have been quite contented with his audience, for the lecture-room of the Museum of Archaeology was crammed…[he] ended with the welcome news that he has promised to give us another lecture

70 “Professor Flinders Petrie On Egyptology,” London Times , January 16, 1893, pg. 8. 71 Rosalind M. Janssen, The First Hundred Years: Egyptology at University College London 1892-1992 (Surrey: Laws and Stimson Associates, 1992), 8. 72 Ibid., 8. 73 “Royal Burials in Egypt,” The London Times , January 31, 1923, pg. 9. Polish 19 next year. A larger room will be needed.” 74 Petrie was aware of the public interest and was

obliging to the captivated public, demonstrating a desire to share his findings with as many

people as possible.

Other scholars also gave popular lectures that added to the growth of knowledge. Like

Petrie, Reginald Stuart Poole, of the British Museum and the EEF was a renowned lecturer. The

importance of Poole’s lectures was noted in his obituary. The writer claimed, “Few men have

done so much, by lectures, to encourage the study of Egyptology and antiquities among the

general public.” 75 The public’s excitement was also high for Howard Carter, the excavator of

Tutankhamen’s tomb. By newspaper account of his lecture, “Mr. Howard Carter was

enthusiastically cheered at the close of the lecture. He will give it once more next Friday. There

has already been a very heavy demand for tickets.”76 With lectures being given over and over,

Egyptologists’ public gatherings were sought after much as one would seek a celebrity’s

appearance. Lectures also allowed both experts and armchair scholars to step outside of their

studies and interact to exchange knowledge. Though Egyptologists were often busy with

traveling, writing, and studying, they were devoted to the public who supported them.

Contributing to guidebooks was another manner in which experts shared their knowledge

with the layman. Amateurs relied on the experience of experts because travelers would be

experiencing a culture and terrain completely unlike their own. In the mid-nineteenth century,

the difficulty of travel to Egypt was alleviated because of “a settled political climate under

increasing British influence, regular steamship travel across the Mediterranean, and the end of

health quarantines, but also by the publication of the first manuals produced to assist travelers

74 “Lecture on Egypt,” Cambridge Review 21, (1899), p. 36. 75 “Obituary Mr. Reginald Stuart Poole,” London Times , February 9, 1895, pg. 5. 76 “Tutankhamen’s Wish,” London Times , September, 26, 1923, pg. 12. Polish 20 through the historical sites and practicalities of travel.” 77 Ease of travel was important, because

people were using their limited leisure time to travel. As more people traveled, particularly those

without any specialty in relation to Egypt, demand for travel guides increased and knowledge

about Egypt spread. The firms Thomas Cook & Son, John Murray and Sons, and Karl Baedeker

all produced popular guidebooks, in multiple editions. 78 Guidebooks contained everything that a traveler might need to know because travelers relied on the expertise contained within the books.

Cook’s Tourists' Handbook was a comprehensive guide to the Cook tour in Egypt, but it

was not fully inclusive of Egyptology. The introduction of the guide reveals its deficiencies and

declares, “The present volume is intended as a Handbook for Tourists, and does not pretend to guide those who need a work to assist them in elaborate research or scientific investigation.”

Furthermore, “Those who, as a result of their Tour, are incited to make wider and deeper investigations, will find no difficulty, on their return, in supplementing their general impressions with profounder knowledge from the pages of Wilkinson, Bunsen, Lane, Mariette, Maspero,

Grébaut, de Morgan, Naville, Petrie, Poole, Budge, and others.” 79 The comments not only

recommend further reading, but also encourage it. Though the guide is not fully inclusive, it

does include a chapter devoted to recent discoveries. Tourists, although they were amateurs,

could not travel without a guide to Egyptology. In order to fill the gap in information, “in 1886

Thomas Cook commissioned E.A. Wallis Budge, Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities in the British

Museum, to prepare a compendious volume, Notes for Travellers , which the company presented to all passengers on its Nile steamers.” 80 The demand for Notes for Travellers , and its

77 Waleed Hazbun, "The East as an Exhibit,” 7. 78 Ibid., 17. 79 Thomas Cook, Cook's Tourists' Handbook (London: T. Cook & Son, 1876), iii. 80 Derek Gregory, “Scripting Egypt: Orientalism and the cultures of travel,” 118. Polish 21 production indicate that travelers wanted to be informed by the experts, those backed by institutions.

Murray and Baedeker, the two other guidebook producers, also anticipated travelers wants and drew on the expertise of scholars to compile their guidebooks. John Murray and

Son’s first edition 1847 guidebook was based on the Egyptologist, John Gardner Wilkinson’s

Modern Egypt and Thebes .81 Mary Brodrick, a noted Egyptologist and archaeologist, edited the

1888 seventh edition of Murray’s A Handbook for Travellers in Lower and Upper Egypt with

help from Professor Archibald Sayce, also a notable Egyptologist. 82 Baedeker’s guides used scholars’ knowledge to better inform travelers. Playing the editor role, in the fourth edition,

Baedeker acknowledges six Egyptologists who contributed to the guide. 83 Guides such as these

put worthwhile knowledge at the fingertips of the reader.

With the support of prominent Egyptologists, readers could trust that they were gaining

valuable knowledge by using these handbooks. The books were not generalized, rather, they

included every detail a traveler or curious reader might need. For example, Murray’s guide

contained a nine-page guide to reading hieroglyphs and an illustrated guide to the ancient

Egyptian deities. The guide also included an extensive Arabic vocabulary section. Baedeker’s

book contains a step-by-step guide to the Museum at Giza and illustrations of types of people to

be found on Cairo’s streets. The minutia included in guidebooks is staggering and they were

intended to be that way. According to Derek Gregory, “From the middle of the [nineteenth]

century guidebooks were incorporated into the canon [of travel reading], and these were no

lightweights either. Their publishers prided themselves on including the latest archaeological

81 Mary Brodrick, ed., Murray’s A Handbook for Travellers in Lower and Upper Egypt , 7th ed. (London: John Murray, 1888), v. 82 “New Tourist Publications,” London Times , July 26, 1897, pg. 13. 83 Karl Baedeker, ed., Egypt: Handbook for Travellers , 4th ed. (Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1898), vi. Polish 22 research, and all of them call on the services of established authorities.” 84 Guidebooks were

considered essential reading because of the amount of information that they synthesized.

Consumers could gain the advice of the experts through the pages of the books. In light of the

meticulous detail included, some need not travel at all to experience Egypt and the wonders that

it held.

Besides revealing how experts contributed, guidebooks must be read for their content

because they reveal how amateurs traveled and thus, how they interacted with the empire.

Cook’s guides are a good example because of Cook’s monopoly. The guides for Cook’s tours

were designed for travelers on Cook’s package and contain Cook’s specific itinerary as well as

general commentary. The guide was an introduction to Egypt and warned travelers, “the mode of

life, language, and customs of the country [Egypt] are altogether different from anything to

which the European traveller has been accustomed; the modes of travelling are novel, and the

difficulties to be encountered greater than in any part of Europe.” 85 Potential difficulties notwithstanding, travelers were also enticed by the description, “Cairo, however, is still the city of Arabian Nights, and all who are well up in those veracious chronicles will find themselves perpetually localizing the scenes and individualizing the characters of which Scheherazade chattered so well and to such good purpose.” 86 The guide describes the difficulties and

hardships of modern Egypt while highlighting the amusement of the exotic. Alexandria

however, on the advice of the guide, is not Eastern enough: “Interesting as the sights of

Alexandria are, there is so strong an admixture of European manners, customs, and habits with

the Eastern…that the traveller does not need to be told he can here form no true idea of an

84 Derek Gregory, “Scripting Egypt: Orientalism and the cultures of travel,” 117. 85 Thomas Cook, Cook's Tourists' Handbook (London: T. Cook & Son, 1876), 2. 86 Scheherazade is the storyteller from the frame story of Arabian Nights , also known as One Thousand and One Nights. Thomas Cook, Cook's Tourists' Handbook (London: T. Cook & Son, 1876), 87. Polish 23

Eastern city. For that he must wait till he gets to Cairo.” 87 The book presents the idea of Egypt’s duality, that it contains aspects of both East and West. On Cook’s advice, though, there was little interest in aspects that were already westernized, or even modernized. From the contrasting comments about Alexandria and Cairo, seeing something different, something old, was the objective in travel.

As people traveled and used the suggestions of the popular guides, travel experiences reached the printed page for the consumption of the public. Derek Gregory explains that travel writers often wrote about their hesitance in writing and adding to the many books already produced about Egypt, but “pressed on regardless.” 88 Publishers would only take on stories, however, if they were selling. Travelogues record the curiosity and wonderment that Britons, especially amateurs, experienced in their travels. Amelia B. Edwards recorded her observations of that fateful 1873 trip in her 1877 book, A Thousand Miles Up the Nile . She explained the

sight of the Egyptian peasant: “we see him wearing the same loin-cloth, plying the same shâdûf,

ploughing with the same plough, preparing the same food in the same way, and eating it with his

fingers from the same bowl, as did his forefathers of six thousand years ago.” 89 Her excitement of witnessing the ancient is clear. She suggests that if Britons traveled to Egypt, they could witness life, as it was thousands of years ago—an enticing proposal. Her travel experience in

Egypt was extremely influential in steering the rest of her life. She made Egypt accessible to others through the writing of her book, hoping to inspire others to fall under the charm of Egypt.

Travel writers wrote and exposed others to the experience of Egypt. Robert Talbot Kelly,

in his 1902 account Egypt: Painted and Described explains his reasons for writing: he tells the

reader that he will “convey to the reader a little of the fascination of the country, and perhaps

87 Ibid., 68. 88 Derek Gregory, “Scripting Egypt: Orientalism and the cultures of travel,” 116. 89 Amelia B. Edwards, A Thousand Miles Up the Nile , 2 nd ed. (London: G. Routledge and Sons, 1891), xiii. Polish 24 excite some feeling of sympathetic interest in a people I have learned to like so well.” 90 He describes in his introduction, “From the earliest days Egypt has been a centre of historical and political interest, and to a large extent has been the nursery of the world's art and civilization; but whether the attracting cause be the glamour of its romantic history, or the physical enjoyment of its climate, generation after generation of travellers is irresistibly drawn to it.” 91 Kelly’s writing conjures the image of a giant magnet pulling Western tourists towards it. Kelly mentions that thousands of people visit Egypt each year, all at least wanting to return again. 92 The manner in which Kelly writes speaks to his anticipation of an audience, the public, that is also in awe of

Egypt. Surely, with two reprints of his book in two years, his words did reach an excited audience.

William Henry Davenport Adams, another travel writer, echoes the idea of a magnetic pull to Egypt. He writes in 1904, “If Egypt presents no other attractions, the certainty, says Sir

Gardner Wilkinson, that it is the oldest State of which we have any positive and tangible records, must awaken feelings of interest to which no contemplative mind can remain indifferent.” 93 He also writes, “Our knowledge of Greek and Roman life is chiefly obtained from other sources; our knowledge of Egyptian life can be derived only from the Egyptian sculpture or painting on the walls of the tomb, palace, and temple.” 94 The opportunity to interact with the ancient, and formulate one’s own thoughts existed in the study of Egypt. Adams’ writings also raise the point that Egypt had appeal to all “contemplative minds”—in order to be a person of intelligence, one

90 Robert Talbot Kelly, Egypt Painted and Described , 3 rd ed. (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1904), vii. 91 Ibid., 1. 92 Ibid., 1. 93 William Henry Davenport Adams, The Land of the Nile; or Egypt Past and Present , (London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1871), v. 94 Ibid., vi. Polish 25 had to cultivate interest in Egypt. Because Egyptology was developing during this period and new discoveries were constantly made, many could take part in the expansion of knowledge.

Adding to knowledge about Egypt was enticing because Egypt held an uncommon place in the Western worldview. Just as Kelly named Egypt the “nursery of the world's art and civilization” and Adams reported that Egypt was “the oldest State of which we have any positive and tangible records,” a book critic remarked, “Egypt was, with Mesopotamia, for us Westerners the birthplace of civilization.” 95 Those ideas posit that Britons, and nations all over the world, were linked with ancient Egypt. Although Egypt in the nineteenth and early twentieth century appeared to be ossified and unchanged for hundreds or thousands of years, there was a certain value in that quality—one could witness the ancient. As Cook’s Tourists’ Handbook described

Alexandria as partly Europeanized, Egypt was not fully Eastern and certainly not fully Western.

Historian John Wortham explains that “Egypt occupied a prominent position in the works of the classical historians and geographers, and a knowledge of the classics was still considered indispensable for an educated man.” 96 He goes on to explain that Britons “displayed a similar,

although not so intense, interest in other ancient civilizations.” 97 Britons held a special reverence for ancient Egypt because it did have an exotic quality, but was not so far removed from their own heritage.

As writers remarked on Egypt’s significance to the West, reviews confirmed that point of view. An enthusiastic review of Joseph Pollard’s The Land of the Monuments explains, “no reader will rise from the conscientious perusal of the book without an Egyptological sense that

95 Review of The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology , The Athenaeum 4667 (October 10, 1919): 1000. 96 John D. Wortham, The Genesis of British Egyptology , 93. 97 Ibid., 93. Polish 26 will affect the rest of his life, a sense he will never regret.” 98 The critique reveals the out and out need to know about Egypt once one has dabbled in the subject. “There is no civilized man,” the review further explains, “that has not an interest in bygone Egypt: for it is the general conclusion of Egyptologists that the Egyptian civilization seriously affected all subsequent civilizations—

Babylonian, Phoenecian, Jewish, Greek, and Roman—and so also modern.” 99 Certain knowledge was simply essential. Surely, no Briton would leave themselves open to being called uncivilized, thus underscoring the importance of knowledge of Egypt.

Traveling to Egypt was eye opening, a learning experience, and an impetus to learn more.

Learning while in Egypt was required of thoughtful travelers. As a traveler, Douglas Sladen, wrote, “On our steamer nobody played bridge except the two clergymen and their wives. Most people had no time for the Devil’s picture-books; they were reading their guide-books; you are lost in Egypt if you do not read up.” 100 Even travelers who were gaining first hand experience

with Egypt were reliant on the expertise passed on from professionals. Cook’s Nile steamer was

outfitted with a library of books on Egypt, but Sladen explained, “the only fault I have to find

with the cabins is that the electric light goes out at eleven, for on the Nile, more than anywhere

else, you want to do a good deal of reading at night. 101 Travelers, as they saw more, had to explore what they saw by reading. Another traveler, Helen Mary Tirard, introduces her story with “Travellers who are starting for Egypt generally ask two questions: What shall we wear?

What books shall we read?” and she goes on to list thirteen books that include all three previously-discussed guidebooks as well as “serious and long” books like Professor François

98 Review of The Land of the Monuments, Notes of Egyptian Travel, by Joseph Pollard, The Speaker 15 (March 1897): 329. 99 Review of The Land of the Monuments, The Speaker 15 (March 1897): 329. 100 Douglas Sladen, Egypt and the English: Showing British Public Opinion in Egypt Upon the Egyptian Question (London: Hurst and Blackett, Limited, 1908), 425. 101 Ibid., 414. Polish 27

Maspero's Histoire ancienne des Peuples de 1'Orient and Perrot's History of Ancient Egyptian

Art .102 Other than reading, fully savoring the experience was necessary because “Oriental travel cannot be really enjoyed unless it is performed without haste. The hurried scamper round the world…leaves behind nothing but a confused medley of blurred impressions.” 103 One had a duty to gain the required knowledge, but in the process of revering Egypt, one could only enjoy it with conscious effort to fully understand the surroundings.

As numerous travelers observed that Egypt has a universal appeal and new knowledge

was constantly in production, the public’s access to learning was unrestrained. As the draw to

Egypt was universal, anyone was a potential consumer of knowledge about Egypt. Apart from

books, periodicals and newspapers kept the public informed about Egyptology. An 1892 article

in The Speaker states, “The glamour of Egypt possesses us more and more. It is…the Egypt

which the scientific digger is slowly, and with great labour, restoring to us—the Egypt that was

timely and elaborately civilized before the stones of Rome were laid.” 104 The article speaks to the public as it continues, “The interest of the subject is infinite, and it is good to be informed from time to time both as to the progress of the work and as to the difficulties which it offers.” 105

Egyptology’s inclusion in sources that were not specific to the subject could draw in readers that may not have found Egyptology otherwise. The public was interested in the ever-growing body of discoveries made by researchers because “the work goes forward, and not a year slips by but we are intellectually the wealthier for its results.” 106 The article reveals a collective pride in the

work of uncovering the ancient.

102 Helen Mary Tirard, Sketches from a Nile Steamer (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1891), ix-x. 103 “The Tide of Eastern Travel,” London Times , September 7, 1908, pg. 9. 104 “Research in Egypt,” The Speaker 6 (August 1892): 222. 105 Ibid., 222. 106 Ibid., 222. Polish 28

Because of this wide interest in staying current, discoveries were covered in the newspaper press. On April 22, 1884, The London Times reported that Professor François

Maspero had discovered a necropolis that had “yielded 120 mummies.” 107 Very little context is

given with the article. Given that, Maspero must have been a household name. In a similarly

sparse story, in 1891 “three colossal statues, 10ft. in height, of rose granite” were discovered

depicting Rameses II and Queen Hentmara. 108 Again, the reporter simply cites the facts, without making the story his or her own. The news is important for its lack of embellishment. The writer did not need to add drama, as the public was already captivated. Furthermore, it indicates that many were interested in the state of Egyptology without necessarily digging deeply into scholarship. Quick news bites were important for handing down knowledge as it was found;

Scholars, however, provided more detail.

Britons who added thoughtfully to the subject were lauded for their fastidiousness. An

Oxford Magazine review praised J. G. Milne as “a thorough and painstaking scholar” who, in preparing his volume of A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times , “digested a great mass of

evidence, much of it very recently acquired” and made no statement “without reference to

ancient authority.” 109 A London Times critic acclaimed Amelia B. Edwards’ Egyptological work on Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers . The critic mentions her “zeal, industry, and judgment” and proclaims that all amateurs owe her praise for summarizing all of the rapid changes in

Egyptology “in a form at once popular, adequate, and attractive.” 110 Due to Egypt’s special

107 “Archaeological Discovery In Upper Egypt,” London Times , April 22, 1884, pg. 8. 108 “Antiquarian Discovery In Egypt,” London Times , October 12, 1891, pg. 5. 109 Review of A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: The Ptolemaic Dynasty , Vol. iv, by Rev. J.P. Mahaffy and of Egypt under Roman Rule , Vol. v, by J.G. Milne, Oxford Magazine 17, no. 21 (May 1899): 14. 110 Review of Pharaohs, Fellahs, and Explorers , by Amelia B. Edwards, London Times , November 12, 1891, pg. 4. Polish 29 status as a place of potential British origins, meticulous study was necessary, and an immense aid to the learning public.

Amelia B. Edwards, never ceasing to promote Egyptology, wrote critiques of works on

Egypt for The Academy , adding institutional and expert perspective and approval to works.

Unlike anonymous critics, Edwards’ expertise as a traveler and Egyptologist could guide the reader through the wide selection of publications about Egypt, helping them to select the best works to study in their limited time. Her reviews exposed the public to her marginalia and she further helped the amateurs by correcting outdated information or suggesting further reading.

For instance, in a review of the 1880 edition of Murray’s Handbook for Egypt , she notes that the handbook “has not kept pace with the march of science” by reporting an outmoded interpretation of the cartouche. 111 She admits, however, “to pick at weeds is an ungrateful task, especially

when, as in the present instance, there is much to approve.” 112 Helpfully, she suggests where the reader could find the correct and up-to-date information. She also corrects misinformation in

Villiers Stuart’s Egypt After the War . What Stuart refers to as “treasure-cities,” were, according to Edwards, “frontier-forts especially constructed for the storage of provisions, booty, and munitions.” 113 Edwards’ reviews helped to enlighten the public and deter them from false

information that was printed. Her diligence demonstrates her goal to free the field of

misinformation spreading.

Edwards also championed proper methodology and the promotion of Egyptology as a unique discipline in her reviews. In the August 6, 1881 edition of The Academy , she reviewed

George Rawlinson’s History of Ancient Egypt . Rawlinson was a renowned scholar of history

111 Amelia B. Edwards, review of Murray’s Handbook for Egypt , ed. by John Murray, The Academy 435 (September 1880): 165. 112 Ibid., 165. 113 Amelia B. Edwards, review of Egypt After the War , by Villiers Stuart of Dromana, The Academy 609 (January 1884): 3. Polish 30 and had produced histories of Chaldea, Assyria, Babylonia, Media, Persia, Parthia, and the

Sassanid empire before publishing on ancient Egypt.114 Though he was a scholar of ancient

civilizations, his expertise did not carry over to Egypt. He could not produce meaningful work

on Egypt without committing to the subject. She, on the other hand, lacked his credentials, but

was an expert who used proper methodology.

In her review of Rawlinson’s history, she strongly criticizes his methodology. Rawlinson

claimed that his work was based upon Egyptian documents and scholarly monographs. She read

expecting to find familiar colleagues in his list of 193 references. Yet, his list “yielded the

names of one hundred miscellaneous authorities, seventy-six Greek classic writers, and—

seventeen Egyptologists! These seventeen included, it is true, some of the most illustrious names

known to science; but as many equally illustrious masters and a host of eminent disciples were

conspicuous only by their absence.” 115 She decries Rawlinson’s neglect of the work of

Egyptologists and finds that his work does not live up to the hopes that she held for it, as he was

not advancing the field of Egyptology. She admits, “That Canon Rawlinson has read, and

carefully read, a great many works indispensable to a correct understanding of certain events and

periods is undoubtedly true.” She goes on, however, to condemn him for leaving “unread [a] full

three-fourths of the literature of his subject.” 116 She expects that if an author wishes to add to the literature about Egypt, that they do so thoughtfully and thoroughly and that use the most up-to- date information.

114 Ronald Bayne, “Rawlinson, George (1812–1902),” rev. M. C. Curthoys, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com. 115 Amelia B. Edwards, review of History of Ancient Egypt by George Rawlinson, M.A., The Academy 483 (August 6, 1881): 99. 116 Ibid., 99. Polish 31

As in her other reviews, Edwards uses her platform as critic to correct all of Rawlinson’s factual errors. In such process, she could monitor how the public was getting its information about Egypt. Though she lacks Rawlinson’s university degrees, Edwards points out that

Rawlinson is “so little in love with his subject.” 117 Edwards, in her disapproval of Rawlinson’s work, demonstrates that a reader can disagree with a scholarly work, even if he or she lacks education or expertise. Her passion turned her to Egyptology, but Rawlinson seemingly just joined the trend. She cannot understand his incompetence, saying, “some of the omissions and some of the errors in these volumes are really unaccountable.” In her conclusion, Edwards heralds Egyptology’s coming-of-age:

Canon Rawlinson is a distinguished Greek scholar, with an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of ancient Greek literature; but the time is past when Greek scholarship was a sufficient qualification for the task he has undertaken. He who aspires to write a really exhaustive and satisfactory History of Ancient Egypt from existing materials must read everything which home and foreign scholars contribute year by year to the literature on the subject…however difficult it may be to procure; but there is no other way.

In her opinion, the book is a failure in its spread of misinformation. Though she respects

Rawlinson’s credentials and expertise, she does not support his venturing into areas outside of his expertise when stepping into the fledgling field of Egyptology.

Edwards awards favorable review to those who demonstrate a healthy interest and inquisitiveness about Egypt. In an October 11, 1879 review, she praises W.J. Loftie’s adventuring and thought-provoking writing. 118 Loftie was an antiquarian with interest in ancient history who had traveled in Egypt before taking on the journey that was the subject of the

117 Ibid., 100. 118 Amelia B. Edwards, review of A Ride in Egypt by W.J. Loftie, The Academy 388 (October 11, 1879): 257. Polish 32 book. 119 According to Edwards review, Loftie “is neither an excavator nor a professed

Egyptologist,” and she is impressed that he wrote fresh insights and descriptions of some of the

sites such as the Pyramids and the Boolak Museum. 120 She goes on to explain that Loftie is not, however, “what foreign hotel-keepers contemptuously designate as un Cookoopon voyageur ;” 121

rather, “he really knows a good deal about Egypt,” able to speak Arabic and decipher

hieroglyphs, and “above all, he sees with his own eyes, and thinks with his own brains; all of

which, in a Nile traveller is little short of phenomenal.” 122 She applauds independent spirit and thought. Unlike Rawlinson, who drew on prior works, Loftie added to the realm of

Egyptology. Although Loftie cites some factual errors, he was still praised for the originality of his observations. He opposed standard belief about an inscription on the Great Pyramid and

Edwards calls Loftie’s theory “an ingenuous conjecture” that “probably comes very near to fact.” 123 She does correct his misstatements, but her tone remains positive throughout the

critique. Most importantly, the book garnered a recommendation from Edwards.

Edwards and other critics encourage readers to draw their own conclusions about material

that is up for debate. After presenting Dr. Kellogg’s proposed Exodus theories, Edwards

suggests, “students of Egyptian history will judge his theory for themselves. Few, perhaps, will

accept it unreservedly; yet none, I think will deny that it is well conceived and closely

reasoned.” 124 Pronouncing definitive results on Biblical history would certainly open debate and

Edwards simply acts as a liaison, speaking to and for the public. Similarly, in Reliquary , a

119 W. B. Owen, “Loftie, William John (1839–1911),” rev. Bernard Nurse, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com. 120 Amelia B. Edwards, review of A Ride in Egypt by W.J. Loftie, 257. 121 A reference to the typical tourist traveling with Thomas Cook’s company. 122 Amelia B. Edwards, review of A Ride in Egypt by W.J. Loftie, 257. 123 Ibid., 257. 124 Amelia B. Edwards, review of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses in Egypt by A.H. Kellogg, The Academy 388 (August 20, 1887): 125. Polish 33 reviewed book seeks to explain the origins of the British people in ancient Egypt. The reviewer is skeptical and says the book will “let its readers judge entirely for themselves.” 125 The critic

recommends the book ultimately because it is “not only readable, but calculated to open out the

mind and lead to healthful investigations.” 126 Books are praised because they raise debate and critical reviews encouraged debate rather than prescribing a side to take. In such a way, readers can interact with information. Critical thought was important for Victorians and according to

Walter R. Houghton in The Victorian Frame of Mind , “the individual should be free to decide for himself…what is true, useful or virtuous.” 127 The previous examples of critiques all exemplify this spirit of independent thought and empowerment of the individual.

Taking into account how experts and amateurs interacted and Egypt’s unique qualities,

Britons spent their leisure time studying or simply taking an escapist interest in Egypt. In that way, they were spending time with the empire, thus supporting it. The Victorian and Edwardian reading public was exposed to Egypt by the great many books published by Egyptologists, journalists, and travelers. These writings were many people’s closest interaction with Egypt and were popular because travel writings “are always more (and always less) than a direct record of experience, but they all carry within them traces of the physical movement of embodied subject through material landscapes.” 128 Books enabled armchair travelers to move through Egypt, without physically leaving the study. In that way, Britons could interact with empire on their own terms.

125 Review of Egypt and the Wonders of the Land of the Pharaohs by William Oxley Reliquary 25 (Jan. 1885): 185. 126 Ibid., 185. 127 Walter R. Houghton, The Victorian Frame of Mind 1830-1870 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957), 95. 128 Derek Gregory, "Scripting Egypt: Orientalism and the cultures of travel," 116. Polish 34

Reviews appearing throughout the period of study illustrate that readers used books to travel vicariously through the author. In a short review of A Winter on the Nile, in Egypt, and in

Nubia , the critic of London Quarterly Review praises the book for inducing the feeling that “the reader seems almost to be sailing up the river and visiting the wonderful temples and pyramids” 129 The critic defines the public’s desire to escape in their reading and experience the

Egypt that is so highly praised. A women’s magazine reviewed Six Weeks in Egypt , and

concluded, “out of these sketches, ‘fugitive’ though they may be, the stay-at-home traveller may

gain a reflex of the enjoyments of travel. They have just enough of the personal element to give

cohesion to the narrative, and never so much as to weary the reader.” 130 The idea that the reader

would be road-weary from reading is humorous, but does speak to how readers interacted with

their reading material with vigor. An 1897 review in The Speaker speaks of The Land of the

Monuments, Notes of Egyptian having a strong power that “takes the reader away, almost unwittingly and in a manner the most agreeable, over a large part of the ground, points out to him the more remarkable monuments of the long-buried ages (now all in bustle of resurrection), and, in sweet, plain English, discourses to him about their significance.” 131 The book guided the

reader at their own pace and readers let their imaginations wander. Kelly’s Egypt Painted and

Described was ascribed the ability to “bring the general characteristics of the country before the

minds of the stay-at-home with peculiar vividness.”132

One review connects the act of reading to involvement with the empire. In reviewing

G.W. Steevens’ Egypt in 1898 , the critic opens, “bit by bit Mr. Steevens is enabling the stay-at-

129 Review of A Winter on the Nile, in Egypt, and in Nubia by Charles D. Bell, London Quarterly Review 12, no. 143 (April 1889): 195. 130 Review of Six Weeks in Egypt: Fugitive Sketches of Eastern Travel , by C.J. Brook, Englishwoman’s Review 221 (1894): 51. 131 Review of The Land of the Monuments, Notes of Egyptian Travel, by Joseph Pollard, The Speaker 15 (March 1897): 329. 132 Review of Egypt Painted and Described , by R. Talbot Kelly, The Geographical Journal 21, no. 2 (February 1903): 175. Polish 35 home to conquer the world,” and continues, Steevens “describes, and another country is unrolled before the eyes of the armchair traveller, another page of the atlas gifted with life, another people explained.” 133 Steevens was a renowned journalist for the Daily Mail , their star reporter because of his “vivid descriptive writing.” 134 Given Steevens’ skills, the reader could feel as though they were part of the action of empire. The critic’s language, appeals to the image of British dominance and British civilization coming from being learned. Readers were not simply imagining wandering through any place, but somewhere for which they were responsible. In traveling from the comfort of the armchair, readers could interact with their empire, better know it, and consume what it offered them—information.

Interest in Egypt can be equated with an expression of patriotism. Patriotism, before the late nineteenth century, was often based on opposition to conservatism and a strong state. 135 By

the late nineteenth century, though, patriotism was strongly linked with jingoism, support of the

empire. Hugh Cunningham’s 1981 article, “The Language of Patriotism, 1750-1914” traces the

Conservative co-opting of patriotic rhetoric in the later nineteenth century. He explains, “in the

age of imperialism, the English were constantly exhorted to be patriotic, and the measuring rod

for patriotism was one erected by the Conservatives in the 1870s; the patriot was above-class,

loyal to the institutions of the country, and resolute in defence of its honour and interests.” 136

Mafeking Night has been widely considered a watershed moment of patriotic outbursts in late

133 Review of Egypt in 1898 , by G.W. Steevens, The Academy 53 (Jan/June 1898): 619. 134 Sidney Lee, “Steevens, George Warrington (1869–1900),” rev. Roger T. Stearn, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004); online ed., ed. Lawrence Goldman, October 2007, http://www.oxforddnb.com. 135 Hugh Cunningham, "The Language of Patriotism, 1750-1914," History Workshop , no. 12 (Autumn, 1981), p. 9. http://www.jstor.org. 136 Ibid., 24. Polish 36

Victorian Britain. 137 When Britons discovered their victory in Mafeking during the Boer War,

despite the horrors of the war, citizens poured into the streets in absolute jubilation. 138 The masses were in support of imperial successes, but in the case of Egypt, imperial successes were not connected to bloodshed. Britons could be subtler in their patriotism, feeling a duty to support the institutions of the discipline, pride in dominating in scholarship, or simply reading as much as their leisure time allowed, even if that was not a great deal.

As relating to Egypt was a popular and patriotic pursuit, guidebooks, handy in their rapid presentation of information, were recommended for audiences beyond travelers. The London

Times suggested, Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Upper and Lower Egypt “is not only a handbook for travellers, but is to be recommended to all non-specialists who are desirous of becoming acquainted with our existing knowledge of this most ancient and ever interesting country.” 139 Baedeker’s handbook was also recommended for those staying at home. The 1898 edition received the high approval that “it is rather too good for the average tourist, being amply sufficient for the most exacting Egyptologist.” 140 A critic in the journal Man described that

Cook’s guidebook “is well up to date, and care has been taken to incorporate the recent results of

archaeological research. Hieroglyphic type has been used where needful with great advantage,

and the list of Egyptian gods and kings with their cartouches will be most useful, not only tot the

tourist, but to those who collect scarabs at home.”141

137 For examples of this argument, see Hugh Cunningham, "The Language of Patriotism, 1750-1914," and Mark Hampton, “The Press, Patriotism, and Public Discussion: C. P. Scott, the ‘Manchester Guardian,’ and the Boer War, 1899-1902,” The Historical Journal , 44, no. 1 (March, 2001) http://www.jstor.org. 138 “Scenes in London,” London Times , May 19, 1900, pg. 12. 139 Review of Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Upper and Lower Egypt, London Times , July 26, 1897, pg. 13. 140 Review of Egypt: Handbook for Travellers , ed. by Karl Baedeker, The Scottish Geographical Magazine 14 (1898): 222. 141 Review of Cook’s Handbook for Egypt and the Sudan , by E.A. Wallis Budge, Man 5 (1905): 37. Polish 37

Not only guidebooks, but all types of accounts, travel memoirs, and scholarship were received well. Although some books were meant for a specific audience, such as tourists, books were still recommended to those who fell outside of that particular group. The field was growing so rapidly, that keeping current with the field was difficult for those that were studying in their leisure time. In light of that, as the guidebooks were recommended for the stay at home amateur, some books were specifically helpful to the amateur who had limited time. W. M. Flinders

Petrie’s compilation work, Ten Years Digging in Egypt, 1881 to 1891 was given a short recommendation in the July 26, 1897 column, “Books of the Week.” According to the review,

“all that Mr. Flinders Petrie tells us here he has told before in his earlier and more elaborate works” and calls the book “a popular summary.” 142 This book was for those who wanted to

know about Egyptology, but who could not or chose not to read every work on the subject. In

other words, there were varying levels of interest and that the public needed a jump-off point of

knowledge. The reviewer predicts, “his little book will doubtless command the wide popularity

that it as [sic] certainly deserves.” 143

Popular books, meant for wide audiences, were important in forming a people that were

informed about their empire. The Speaker decreed The Land of Monuments, Notes of Egyptian

Travel “a meritorious civil service” because “so vast and valuable is the accumulation of lore

already dug up out of the grave of Early Egypt that a book serving to bring home to the

appreciation of the bulk of people, lacking time and patience for the perusal of elaborate

treatises, the more palpable results of Egyptological research deserves thankful

acknowledgement.” 144 A critic in Englishwoman’s Review expresses gratitude for Six Weeks in

142 Review of Ten Years Digging in Egypt, 1881 to 1891, by W.M Flinders Petrie, London Times , July 26, 1897, pg. 13. 143 Ibid., 13. 144 Review of The Land of the Monuments, The Speaker 15 (March 1897): 329. Polish 38

Egypt , writing, “for those who have not time or opportunity to consult the great writers on Egypt ancient or modern” who need the volume that “gives information of the latest aspect of the things of to-day, and of the latest results of the explorations into things of the past history of that wonderful land.” 145 The above reviews reveal that the amateur audience was extremely grateful

when the experts produced works to help them enter into the field with an amateur’s level of

expertise. According to historian David Cannadine, “the British knew very little, either

historically or anthropologically, about the regions that they annexed.” 146 The generalization does not work in the case of Egypt because, reviews reveal that amateur readers were pleased when books about Egypt were meant just for them and they could learn about the empire. The reviews indicate a certain sense of duty in learning, even if leisure time was limited.

The British duty in knowing about Egypt is highlighted in a review of American scholarship. The critic of The Saturday Review denounces the American editor of The Egyptian

Book of the Dead who “has taken great pains and employed a certain amount of research to produce a book which can only be described as of the second class.” 147 The critic continues,

“second-hand and second-rate information may be good enough for America. Here [in Britain], as Dr. Davis would know if he attended some of Mr. Flinders Petrie’s lectures in Gower

Street…hieroglyphics are studied by a wide and ever widening circle, and by men, women, and children of all ranks.” 148 This review is one of the very few negative ones to be found in the

period of this study. British scholarship is lauded as compared to American. The critic goes so

far as to imply that there are children better suited to producing scholarship than Davis. Any

145 Review of Six Weeks in Egypt , by C.J. Brook, Englishwoman’s Review 221 (1894): 51. 146 David Cannadine, Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 139. 147 Review of Egyptian Book of the Dead, the most ancient and the most important of the ancient religious texts of Ancient Egypt , ed. by Charles H.S. Davis, The Saturday Review 79 (January 1895): 20. 148 Ibid., 20. Polish 39 scholarship that is not advancement is not worthwhile to the British public because they need new information based on primary sources. The critic, as a representative of the public, is insulted by the backward thinking that was produced for consumption.

The British were at the forefront of Egyptology, and gained pride from that status. As earlier sources remarked, the British government did not subsidize projects in Egyptology. Thus supporting Egyptology was a patriotic duty and maintained British dominance. Amelia B.

Edwards, in a review of Reginald Stuart Poole’s Cities of Egypt , which focused on Egyptian connections with the Bible, chided those that did not support Egyptology. She draws on Egypt-

Bible connections to reprimand all “Bible-loving, church- and chapel-going English people” who have been remiss in their lack of enthusiasm for exploration and excavation in Egypt. 149

Edwards submits that everyone has a stake in such work because “it is serious duty, and not a

mere archaeological pastime, to contribute funds for the purpose of conducting excavations on a

foreign soil.” 150 The review highlights that institutions must be supported, that Egypt and Britain

were linked, and that Britons had a patriotic duty in contributing to bettering the discipline of

Egyptology. Though the excavations took place on foreign soil, they were contributing to

understanding of Britons’ present as imperialists and their connections to ancient origins.

* * *

My work serves as a case study of how Britons consumed knowledge and their empire.

Britons did not focus their energies on studying contemporary Egypt. They maintained their

imperial command by maintaining their view of contemporary Egypt as an exotic place that

needed modernization. Britons did, however, focus their intellectual pursuits upon gaining an

understanding of ancient Egypt. As David Cannadine pointed out above, Britons were not

149 Amelia B. Edwards, Review of Cities of Egypt , by Reginald Stuart Poole, The Academy 552 (December 2 1882): 390. 150 Ibid., 390. Polish 40 interested in learning about most places that fell under their dominion. The case of Egypt is special one and the ways in which Egypt became common knowledge to the British public sheds light on larger issues that were at play during the period of study.

Egyptology became institutionalized in the period of this study, marking a changing conception of who is worthy of producing knowledge. Experts had to attain certain credentials or skills to be considered reliable, or earn the title “Egyptologist.” Even travelers, who had first- hand, empirical knowledge, relied on experts to bolster their observations. In that way, trusted professionals were handing information down to the public, telling the public what is important to know. While experts guided the public, they were also reliant on the support of the public.

Both the chairmanship at University College London and the Egypt Exploration Fund were privately funded institutions handing down information to the reading public. Because the institutions relied on the public, there was a symbiotic relationship between the experts and the amateurs. The amateurs supported experts financially and consumed their information and experts continued to supply the consumers. British interest in Egypt, however, did not arise in this period suddenly.

The wide and particular fascination with Egypt is due to place that Egypt holds in the

Western imagination. As the threshold of East and West, Egypt served as a reminder of the ancient civilization that was part of Britons’ heritage. As such, it deserved meticulous study because Egyptian history was part of Western history. Ancient Egypt was a highly advanced civilization that was a model even for Greece and Rome. It deserved the same reverence, and study, that Britons afforded ancient Greece and Rome. Study of antiquity was a quality that made Britons cultured and being cultured was an important quality. The British were at the apex Polish 41 of civilization during the period of this study and understanding all of their origins served the right-wing patriotism that was based on a civilized, highly advanced, and dominant self-image.

The amateurs, intrigued by the unique qualities of Egypt, relied on the experts because they could express their interest in empire through learning. In the words of Richard Price, “to be a British citizen meant also to be an imperial citizen.” 151 Britons showed their imperial

citizenship, in this period, in multiple ways. Sometimes, a jingoistic spirit could take shape as a

celebratory mob, as it did on Mafeking Night. Other times, however, Britons could address their

imperial citizenship with a genteel style of patriotism. As this study has shown, they could do so

by consuming the commodities of the empire—in this case, knowledge. Furthermore, Britons

could demonstrate not only British power over Egypt, but also British primacy within the field of

Egyptology. Britons, because of these factors, were able to interact with their empire and the

ancient in a very tangible way, which was exciting, because in better understanding the advanced

ancient civilization, they were gaining a better understanding themselves.

151 Richard Price, "One Big Thing: Britain, Its Empire, and Their Imperial Culture," Journal of British Studies 45, no. 3 (July, 2006), p. 616-7. http://www.jstor.org. Polish 42

Appendix A

“More Discoveries in Egypt” from Fun magazine:

QuickTime™ and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Caption Reads:

Hitherto the game of gold has been looked upon as being of Scottish origin; but the above Papyrus, supposed to be 3,000 years old, which has lately been unearthed from the tombs near Thebes, by our friend the Professor, who is at present conducting excavations there, seems to prove this idea to be erroneous, for the experts on Egyptian Matters, to whom it has been submitted for explanation, have all agreed that it deals, if not with golf itself, at least with a game of remarkable similarity. Scotland may, therefore, take a back seat as regards this pastime, which would now appear to have been practiced in Egypt centuries before its introduction to Europe, or the existence of Scotland as a civilized country.

Polish 43

Appendix B

William Barto’s chart, “Number of Books Entered in the British Library Catalogue Containing “Egypt” in the Tile” 1800-1899, from his dissertation Re’s Kingdom in the Empire Where the Sun Never Set: The Nineteenth-Century British Egyptologists and Their Thoughts Concerning Race, Religion, and the Role of Women in Ancient Egypt

QuickTime™ and a TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Polish 44

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